Best way to estimate rehabs on wholesale properties.

[Justin Sawyer]

Hey there! A common thing I have run into is estimating repair values accurately. I have seen plenty of videos talking about it but of course have no idea if these are legitimate methods as I have never rehabbed a house and therefore have no clue if these values are anywhere near correct. Any help would be great!

Thank you in advance!

[David Robertson]

Hey Justin,

Learning to estimate rehab costs is a process that takes time and experience.  Here is the process that I recommend for learning how to estimate rehab costs:

#1 Read 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'

First, you need to build a foundational knowledge of construction, inspecting properties and putting together a detailed SOW.

JScott's 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs' is a great resource for new rehabbers to learn how to Estimate Repair Costs on 25 common rehab repairs.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/the-complete-g...

#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material Pricing

Take a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects. This will help you get a better idea of what tile, hardwood, carpet, plumbing fixtures and light fixtures costs for your rehabs.

#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor Pricing / Hire a GC to Consult

Call local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.

For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.

Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.

You can also pay a General Contractor a consulting fee of a couple of hundred dollars (per house) to walkthrough a few properties with you and provide a detailed estimate of prices that you can use as your 'menu for future projects.

#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating Software

Once you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.

The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing. Or you can download my estimating templates I have in my Biggerpockets fileplace:

Simple Estimate Spreadsheet

Detailed Estimating Spreadsheet

There are other Estimating Softwares available as well which can help you manage the Estimating process as well...

#5 Practice, Practice, Practice

Walkthrough potential rehab properties (or find properties virtually online) and practice creating detailed scopes of work, quantifying repairs and estimating rehab costs for the projects.